Creepy poems

Halloween poems

Pumpkin Carving

They chose me from my brother:

"That's the nicest one," they said,

And they carved me out a face

And put a candle in my head;

And they set me on the doorstep.

Oh, the night was dark and wild;

But when they lit the candle,

Then I smiled!

Old Woman All Skin And Bone

There was an old woman all skin and bone

Who lived near the graveyard all alone.

She thought she'd go to church one day

To hear the preacher sing and pray.

And when she came to the graveyard stile

She thought she'd stop and rest awhile.

And when she came to the old church door

She stopped to rest a little more.

But when she turned and looked around

She saw a corpse upon the ground.

The worms crawled out, the worms crawled in

From up his nose down to his chin

The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out,

Across his eyes, his ears and mouth.

The woman to the preacher said,

"Will I look like that when I am dead?"

"You already do", the preacher said

"You're skin and bone because you're dead!"

The woman fainted with the shock

And split her head on a sharp rock.

They buried the woman all skin and bone

But from the grave they heard her moan.

"I'm not yet dead" the woman cried.

"You will be soon", the priest replied.

Skeleton Dance

The warder looked out at the mid-hour of night,

Where the grave-hills all silently lay;

The moon-beams above gave so brilliant a light,

That the churchyard was clear as by day:

First one, then another, to open began;

Here came out a woman - there came out a man,

Each clad in a shroud long and white.

And then for amusement - perchance it was cold -

In a circle they seemed to advance;

The poor and the rich, and the young and the old,

But the grave-clothes impeded the dance:

And as no person thought about modesty there,

They flung off their garments, and stripped themselves bare,

And a shroud lay on each heap of mould.

They kicked up their heels, and they rattled their bones,

And the horrible din that they made

Went clickety-clackety - just like the tones

Of a castanet noisily played.

And the warder he laughed as he witnessed the cheer,

And he heard the Betrayer speak soft in his ear,

"Go and steal away one of their shrouds."

Swift as thought it was done - in an instant he fled

Behind the church portal to hide;

And brighter and brighter the moon-beam was shed,

As the dance they still shudderingly plied;

But at last they began to grow tired of their fun,

And they put on their shrouds, and slipped off, one by one,

Beneath, to the homes of the dead.

But tapping at every grave-hill, there staid

One skeleton, tripping behind;

Though not by his comrades the trick had been played -

Now its odour he snuffed in the wind:

He rushed to the door - but fell back with a shock;

For well for the wight of the bell and the clock,

The sign of the cross it displayed.

But the shroud he must have-not a moment he stays;

Ere a man had begun but to think,

On the Gothic-work his fingers quickly he lays,

And climbs up its chain, link by link.

Now woe to the warder - for sure he must die -

To see, like a long-legged spider, draw nigh

The skeleton's clattering form:

And pale was his visage, and thick came his breath;

The garb, alas! why did he touch?

How sick grew his soul as the garment of death

The skeleton caught in his clutch -

The moon disappeared, and the skies changed to dun,

And louder than thunder the church-bell tolled one -

The spectre fell tumbling to bits!

The Spook Upon the Stair

I met a spook upon the stair;

He was a haunt who had no hair.

In fact, he didn't have a head

Which made me think he might be dead.

His head I saw beneath his arm,

Safely tucked away from harm,

But still it spoke to me and said,

"Before you go on up to bed,

Please let me say you should not stare

At ghosts you meet upon the stair."

Thus spoke that spook, I do not lie,

Before I could quite pass it by.

"The thoughful, gentle thing to do,"

It said to me, as I say to you,

"Is act as if they were not there,

And never, never, never stare,

Even though beneath an arm

Their heads they carry, safe from harm.

"However frightful they may be,

Act as if you did not see,

And if you did, would not have cared.

Above all, NEVER show you're scared."

This spook he spoke so plain and fair,

I heeded him, right then and there.

I hurried on right to the top,

And as I went I heard a pop.

I turned - and there was nothing there.

The spot the spook had been was bare.